ATM "Skimmers" Crop Up In Maryland

Card skimmers attach directly to the card slot of ATM machines. The skimmers read account information, and are often accompanied by hidden cameras that watch bank users enter PIN numbers.

Police in Queen Anne's County, Maryland say thieves using a device called an ATM card skimmer accessed the accounts of 88 people.

Card skimmers attach directly to the card slot of ATM machines. The skimmers read account information, and are often accompanied by hidden cameras that watch bank users enter PIN numbers.

The device in Queen Anne's County hasn't been found, but investigators believe it was attached to the ATM between September 26th and October 9th. Margot Mohsberg, a spokesperson for the American Bankers Association, says ATM users everywhere need to be especially careful on the weekends. "Lots of times they'll put it up on a Friday, when the bank closes, and then take it off on a Sunday, before the bank opens again," says Mohsberg.

Mohsberg says skimmers are on the rise because the technology is more easy to get ahold of through the internet, but she says banks are hard at work putting card skimmers out of business. "We are creating devices that will jam that information and prevent it from working," says Mohsberg.

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